Neuronal and psychological underpinnings of pathological gambling

Like in the case of drugs, gambling hijacks reward circuits in a brain which is not prepared to receive such intense stimulation. Dopamine is normally released in response to reward and uncertainty in order to allow animals to stay alive in their environment – where rewards are relatively unpredictable. In this case, behavior is regulated by environmental feedbacks, leading animals to persevere or to give up. In contrast, drugs provide a direct, intense pharmacological stimulation of the dopamine system that operates independently of environmental feedbacks, and hence causes “motivational runaways”. With respect to gambling, the confined environment experienced by gamblers favors the emergence of excitatory conditioned cues, so that positive feedbacks take over negative feedbacks. Although drugs and gambling may act differently, their abnormal activation of reward circuitry generates an underestimation of negative consequences and promotes the development of addictive/compulsive behavior. In Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, dopamine-related therapies may disrupt these feedbacks on dopamine signalling, potentially leading to various addictions, including pathological gambling. The goal of this Research Topic is to further our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the development of pathological gambling. This eBook contains a cross-disciplinary collection of research and review articles, ranging in scope from animal behavioral models to human imaging studies

Mesoscale acid deposition modeling studies

The work performed in support of the EPA/DOE MADS (Mesoscale Acid Deposition) Project included the development of meteorological data bases for the initialization of chemistry models, the testing and implementation of new planetary boundary layer parameterization schemes in the MASS model, the simulation of transport and precipitation for MADS case studies employing the MASS model, and the use of the TASS model in the simulation of cloud statistics and the complex transport of conservative tracers within simulated cumuloform clouds. The work performed in support of the NASA/FAA Wind Shear Program included the use of the TASS model in the simulation of the dynamical processes within convective cloud systems, the analyses of the sensitivity of microburst intensity and general characteristics as a function of the atmospheric environment within which they are formed, comparisons of TASS model microburst simulation results to observed data sets, and the generation of simulated wind shear data bases for use by the aviation meteorological community in the evaluation of flight hazards caused by microbursts

An Investigation Of Organizational Information Security Risk Analysis

Despite a growing number and variety of information security threats, many organizations continue to neglect implementing information security policies and procedures.  The likelihood that an organization’s information systems can fall victim to these threats is known as information systems risk (Straub & Welke, 1998).  To combat these threats, an organization must undergo a rigorous process of self-analysis. To better understand the current state of this information security risk analysis (ISRA) process, this study deployed a questionnaire using both open-ended and closed ended questions administered to a group of information security professionals (N=32).  The qualitative and quantitative results of this study show that organizations are beginning to conduct regularly scheduled ISRA processes.  However, the results also show that organizations still have room for improvement to create idyllic ISRA processes.&nbsp

Understanding single-top-quark production and jets at hadron colliders

I present an analysis of fully differential single-top-quark production plus jets at next-to-leading order. I describe the effects of jet definitions, top-quark mass, and higher orders on the shapes and normalizations of the kinematic distributions, and quantify all theoretical uncertainties. I explain how to interpret next-to-leading-order jet calculations, and compare them to showering event generators. Using the program ZTOP, I show that HERWIG and PYTHIA significantly underestimate both s-channel and t-channel single-top-quark production, and propose a scheme to match the relevant samples to the next-to-leading-order predictions.Comment: 40 pgs., revtex4, 35 ps figs; added Fig. 4, 1 Ref., minor clarifications, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis with Seizures and Myocarditis: A Fatal Triad.

Autoimmune pathology of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is generally restricted to the brain. Our objective is to expand the phenotype of ADEM. A four-year-old girl was admitted to the pediatric emergency room of a university medical center five days after a common upper respiratory tract infection. Acute symptoms were fever, leg pain, and headaches. She developed meningeal signs, and her level of consciousness dropped rapidly. Epileptic seizure activity started, and she became comatose, requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation. Serial brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) illustrated the fulminant development of ADEM. Treatment escalation with high-dose corticosteroids, immunoglobulins, and plasma exchange did not lead to clinical improvement. On day ten, the patient developed treatment-refractory cardiogenic shock and passed away. The postmortem assessment confirmed ADEM and revealed acute lymphocytic myocarditis, likely explaining the acute cardiac failure. Human metapneumovirus and picornavirus were detected in the tracheal secrete by PCR. Data sources-medical chart of the patient. This case is consistent with evidence from experimental findings of an association of ADEM with myocarditis as a postinfectious systemic autoimmune response, with life-threatening involvement of the brain and heart

Influence of sulfate supply on selenium uptake dynamics and expression of sulfate/selenate transporters in selenium hyperaccumulator and nonhyperaccumulator Brassicaceae

Summary Stanleya pinnata not only hyperaccumulates selenium (Se) to 0.5% of its dry weight, but also exhibits higher tissue Se‐to‐sulfur (S) ratios than other species and its surroundings. To investigate the mechanisms underlying this Se enrichment, we compared S. pinnata with the nonhyperaccumulators S. elata and Brassica juncea for selenate uptake in long‐ (9 d) and short‐term (1 h) assays, using different concentrations of selenate and competitor sulfate. Different sulfate pre‐treatments (0, 0.5, 5 mM, 3 d) were also tested for effects on selenate uptake and sulfate transporters' expression. Relative to nonhyperaccumulators, S. pinnata showed higher rates of root and shoot Se accumulation and less competitive inhibition by sulfate or by high‐S pretreatment. The selenate uptake rate for S. pinnata (1 h) was three‐ to four‐fold higher than for nonhyperaccumulators, and not significantly affected by 100‐fold excess sulfate, which reduced selenate uptake by 100% in S. elata and 40% in B. juncea. Real‐time reverse transcription PCR indicated constitutive upregulation in S. pinnata of sulfate transporters SULTR1;2 (root influx) and SULTR2;1 (translocation), but reduced SULTR1;1 expression (root influx). In S. pinnata, selenate uptake and translocation rates are constitutively elevated and relatively sulfate‐independent. Underlying mechanisms likely include overexpression of SULTR1;2 and SULTR2;1, which may additionally have evolved enhanced specificity for selenate over sulfate

Fully differential W' production and decay at next-to-leading order in QCD

We present the fully differential production and decay of a W' boson, with arbitrary vector and axial-vector couplings, to any final state at next-to-leading order in QCD. We demonstrate a complete factorization of couplings at next-to-leading order in both the partial width of the W' boson, and in the full two-to-two cross section. We provide numerical predictions for the contribution of a W' boson to single-top-quark production, and separate results based on whether the mass of the right-handed neutrino (nu_R) is light enough for the leptonic decay channel to be open. The single-top-quark analysis will allow for an improved direct W' mass limit of 525-550 GeV using data from run I of the Fermilab Tevatron. We propose a modified tolerance method for estimating parton distribution function uncertainties in cross sections.Comment: 23 pages, revtex3, 13 ps fig